Neil, you have certainly had some adventures! I am happy that all was well with both of you at the end, at least. You must have been ready to head to the pub yourself at that point, I'd think.
I doubt you need to worry about me ever having a formal garden, I don't believe it would go with my "middle of a cedar swamp" lifestyle !
It probably wouldn't hurt me to just do a little more planning, however, instead of sticking things here and there more or less at random; although the one time i slaved over a plan for my perennial garden it pretty quickly got out hand and it now no longer even resembles the original plan. Well, the shape is the same... and I really do love the way it looks in the spring, when the daffodils are blooming --